LAURA HESS OF HESS KENNEDY SCAM SUSPENDED BY FLORIDIA BAR
Date: Wed, 07/23/2008 - 10:44
LAURA HESS OF HESS KENNEDY SCAM SUSPENDED BY FLORIDIA BAR
By Diane C. Lade | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
10:36 PM EDT, July 22, 2008
The Florida Bar moved Tuesday to suspend a Coral Springs attorney, one day after the Office of the Florida Attorney General put her debt settlement and wealth management company into receivership, alleging deceptive trade practices that may have cost consumers millions.
State documents filed in Broward County Circuit Court claim that in 2006 and 2007 the law firm run by Laura Hess and an affiliated company managed by Edward Cherry paid $12 million to friends and relatives, and to businesses run by former employees or associates of Hess and Cherry.
In the meantime, the firm did not negotiate with clients' creditors or review credit records as promised, resulting in some consumers being sued for their debts or having to file bankruptcy, records showed.
Hess Kennedy Chartered LLC and The Consumer Law Center collected "exorbitant" upfront fees, usually up to 15 percent of the client's unsecured debt, according to the Florida Bar's Tuesday filing with the Florida Supreme Court.
The law center's phone was not working Tuesday, and Hess did not return an e-mail requesting comment. Kevin Tynan, the Tamarac attorney who represented Hess in Bar complaints filed against her earlier this year, did not return a call to his office.
Joseph Gentili, an assistant attorney general in the South Florida economic crimes bureau, said the state can't determine how much money has "gone through this company" and that there may be thousands of consumers nationwide who lost money. Cherry initially blocked the court-appointed receiver and law enforcement from entering the company's offices Monday, Gentili said, but later admitted them after the attorney general obtained a court order.
Receivership will protect the company's remaining assets, Gentili said, and control future payments. "Consumers probably still are sending money on a weekly or monthly basis," Gentili said.
According to the attorney general's filings, several entities set up by Cherry and former Hess accountant Eric Siversen received between $45,000 to $3.2 million from one of two Hess bank accounts. Although Hess said in an earlier deposition to the Florida Bar that the firm did not pay for referrals from credit counseling companies, the state investigation found $800,000 was paid to Coastal Credit Solutions and $7.5 million to The Credit Exchange Corp., based in California.
Consumers who have complaints should contact the Attorney General's Office at 866-966-7226 or 850-414-3990 from outside Florida.
Well it's a start. But I want to see some jail time.
What happens when a company goes into receivership? A court t
What happens when a company goes into receivership?
A court takes control, assigns a management team, and runs the company until it is out of debt or is liquidated.
It seems this scam of theirs is over for now. Now is the time to ask for refunds if you want them.
Thanks Tom321 for the info! I did my happy dance! I called the
Thanks Tom321 for the info! I did my happy dance! I called the phone number and I was referred to "myfloridalegal" website. I am not sure where to file my complaint. Can you help?
So do yall thing Laura Hess will go to jail? I would think so but I am surprised the news article doesn't say anything about it.
straycat call the Florida & NJ AG, FTC and the BBB. File comp
straycat call the Florida & NJ AG, FTC and the BBB. File complaints there. Also since the court has taken over HK try calling them directly and explaining to them the situation. It can't hurt. Let me know what happens. I'm thinking about getting my $500 back now.
@Daily Businesws Review Quote:The Florida attorney general?
@Daily Businesws Review
Quote:
The Florida attorney general????????s office has won an emergency court order placing several debt settlement businesses operated by controversial Coral Springs attorney Laura Hess into receivership. The Florida Bar also filed an emergency petition Tuesday asking the state Supreme Court to suspend Hess???????? law license, said Bar counsel Kenneth Marvin in Tallahassee. The Bar said the action was needed because Hess ???????has caused and continues to cause great public harm.??????? The state claims $20 million was moved from bank accounts linked to Hess???????? companies ???????to persons and/or entities who are neither lawyers nor creditors??????? of her clients from early 2006 to November 2007. Among other things, the state claims business partner Edward Cherry paid his personal mortgage with business funds from consumers ???????reportedly earmarked for creditors.??????? Broward Circuit Judge Ronald Rothschild signed the receivership order Friday and appointed Plantation attorney Daniel Stermer of Lewis B. Freeman & Partners as the receiver. Stermer did not return calls for comment by deadline. The order was granted without advance notice to Hess and her associates ???????because of the likelihood that they would dissipate the assets of the business if notified of this motion,??????? according to the order. Victoria Heller, spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill McCollum, said the action was taken to ???????assist remaining customers??????? of the debt settlement company. The receivership order put Stermer in charge of collecting ???????all receipts, revenues, deposits, receivables, notes and other funds generated by??????? Hess and her affiliated companies. Hess and the companies were ordered to ???????immediately turn over to the receiver any monies belonging to or otherwise generated from consumers??????? or law firm clients. He also was to take control of all assets including bank accounts used by Hess and her companies. The attorney general????????s office listed the names of 24 companies linked to her. The Bar petition claims Hess ???????has lied to The Florida Bar during its investigation, partnered with a nonlawyer in the practice of law and accepted millions of dollars in fees from clients whom she has subsequently neglected and failed to communicate with.??????? The attorney general????????s office claimed Hess operates law firms that claim to do debt settlement work, while Cherry, who went to law school with Hess but is not licensed to practice law in Florida, operates the payment-processing company. Hess, who operates the Hess Kennedy law firm, ???????putatively has a law partner named Edward Thomas Kennedy who is not admitted in Florida,??????? McCollum????????s office claimed. Hess and Cherry have told contrasting stories about the identity of Kennedy, but their ???????misrepresentations do not hide that Edward Cherry is Edward Thomas Kennedy,??????? the attorney general????????s office said in a court filing. Chase Bank sued Hess alleging civil fraud last March. In response, Hess said Kennedy ???????is not Edward Cherry??????? but is someone who ???????resides in Brussels,??????? Belgium. Hess and her companies have been the target of investigations in Florida, North Carolina and West Virginia and have been the subject of hundreds of complaints from consumers claiming the firm charges high fees but fails to deliver debt settlement services. The Florida Bar filed a 10-count, 119-page complaint against Hess March 13, charging her with running a ???????deceptive debt settlement scheme??????? and violating numerous Bar rules. Hess denied the allegations and planned to fight the charges, her attorney said at the time. The trial on The Bar????????s complaint was set for Aug. 18. Earlier this year, McCollum also filed suit against Hess Kennedy for allegedly shady or unethical business practices. West Palm Beach attorney D. Culver ???????Skip??????? Smith, a Fox Rothschild partner who represents Hess in her Bar trial but not in McCollum????????s initial suit, said today he spoke to Hess, she is on vacation this week, and she is aware of the new filings against her. The twin actions came ???????as a surprise??????? to Hess, Smith said. ???????She????????s aware that a receiver has been appointed,??????? he said. ???????Laura Hess has no knowledge about the extent of what the attorney general has claimed as the basis of getting a receiver appointed.??????? Bud Newman can be reached at (561) 820-2075. It looks like it's not over. Hess and Cherry are going to jail I think. |
TOM321
hey Tom great work, I have been putting together a chart of connections between Ed Cherry, his father Eric Cherry, J Wade Mezey, Laura Hess, Jeff Campos, Tim McCallan od Americorp and Andris Puuke of Ameridebt. I think you were right on the money........this is a losely affiliated criminal network!
Is his father a scam artist also? Is he in on this?
Is his father a scam artist also? Is he in on this?
Tom321
Yes Tom Eric Cherry is Ed Cherrys father and bankroller of Hess Kennedy et al (there are I believe 28 other websites that HK was using as a diversionary ploy). Eric Cherry was the owner of IBill which was the processing company for most of the internet **** site industry.
Eric Cherry was a pioneer in the 1980's 1-900 business related to 1-900 s e x and gambling lines. He then moved to Ibill in the 90's and then into the debt settlement industry. Obviously he is very wealthy.....there was an article in a horseracing periodical that said Eric Cherry had just purchased a $6.5 million dollar race horse.
If you are interested leave an email and we can correspond
[color=Red]****Adult term removed - Jason[/color]
Spankthem, posting email addresses is not allowed, per TOS. If
Spankthem, posting email addresses is not allowed, per TOS. If the two of you want to correspond, you could both sign up as members here, and then you would be able to pm each other. Plus you could earn points (money) for your posts!
Interesting info about Eric Cherry!
Fraud
spankthem it seems we have more work to do. HESS KENNEDY is back on the scene and trying to infect this site with commercials and propaganda. They have opened up more sites on the net spreading their debt settlement scam. I've already checked out about ten of them but there are so much more with different people at the helm.
WOW! I didn't know all this was going on!
I just faxed a 17 page cancellation letter to Hess Kennedy Chartered today...requesting to be removed from my "contract" and to receive a refund. I paid them $590/month for 8 months. Nothing has been paid or even attempted to be settled. I am/was paying 15% in fees, which apparently I just found out on Thursday that most of what I have paid so far went to fees...FEES FOR WHAT??? THEY HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING! Anyway, I requested a refund in the amount of $4330 (I didn't ask for the $39 monthly, non-refundable fee)! The address in which my "welcome letter" came from is a New York address; however, my contract states that it is with Hess Kennedy Chartered mailing address 210 North University Drive Suite 209 Coral Springs, Florida...with Laura Hess as the "managing parner". I have filed a complaint with FTC and Florida's Attorney General, Mr. McCollum?? Do you think I will get my refund? Is there anything else I should do at this point? Thanks so much for the information that has been posted. I don't feel so alone in this bad situation.
hess kennedy
sorry to say that we got messed up in the whole hess kennedy scam. We paid them thousands of dollars and are still not out of debt. Their communication and record keeping were horrible. I wish we could sue Laura Hess individually- we have no credit left and are still in debt. I hope she and her partners in crime receive some jail time.
This is sick the economy is messed up bad enough and, people are
This is sick the economy is messed up bad enough and, people are struggling to make every payment they can...business is business the economy is hurt these people like this thrive off of people...I just feel so bad for those involved with this mess...Call to your creditors call to your lenders...Not something like this...People try anything whenever they are all out and have nothing...Its a sick world with sick people out trying to scam innocent people...
settlement done. People robbed of thousands of dollars
I am one of the people that hired the consumer law firm to help my husband and I with debt consolidation.
On November 20th, the settlement was approved. Out of $5500, we are 'allowed' $700. While this is upsetting, it gets worse. We had filed bankruptcy because the consumer law center didn't help us, our creditors sued us. Bankruptcy was our only hope. So, long story short, the trustees will be mailed our 'settlement'.
I really hope that this woman and her mates go to jail.
Very upsetting. Everyone else including the lawyers that handled the case get more money than us victims. We all were screwed!
Let me get this straight. Hess Kennedy & The Consumer Law Cente
Let me get this straight. Hess Kennedy & The Consumer Law Center had over 90,000 clients. They had 65,000 Debt Management Clients and 25,000 Debt Settlement Clients.
(This comes directly from the Receiver's Report). The Debt settlement company started aggressively challenging the predatory lending practices of Chase Bank, Capital One Bank, and Bank of America.
They start suing Citibank, Chase, and Capital on in Federal Court and in the National Arbitration Forum. Each time a consumer loses in the National Arbitration Forum they put the Minnesota Attorney General on notice by filing an AG complaint against the Forum.
The Minnesota Attorney General sues the National Arbitration Forum and prohibits them from handling any more consumer credit transactions.
Hess Kennedy and the Consumer Law Center have 400 BBB complaints and 257 Attorney General Complaints but again, they have over 90,000 clients.
A receiver is appointed Lewis B. Freeman and Partners, and the receiver operates the company now going on 18 months. Lewis b. Freeman is paying itself and its lawyers over $250,000 per month for 18 months.
Lewis B. Freeman is raided by the FBI and placed into receivership themselves. Daniel Stermer claims although he is listed as a Principal of Lewis B. Freeman, he is independent.
So, as we see it, they are going to continue to operate the Debt Management Business which generates over $2,000,000 per month in gross revenue, they shut down the Debt Settlement business, and eliminated $150,000,000 in consumer debt by settling with Chase, HSBC, and Capital One Bank.
They claim they need to reserve $3,500,000 to keep paying themselves. And you think that Laura Hess and her mates should go to jail?
I think that the campaign contributions of Chase Bank and the other Banks into the bank accounts of the Attorney General of Florida and the Bank Accounts of the receiver should be examined.
Seems like as soon as HK picked a fight with Chase Bank, that part of the business that was not making Chase money was shut down. The Debt Management business pays Chase about $500,000 each month. Read the Receiver's Report. Hess Kennedy was stolen and is being pillaged by the Government and their cronies. . .
And you think that Laura Hess and her mates should go to jail?
And you think that Laura Hess and her mates should go to jail?
Yes, they all should go to jail. All the people out there that only were trying to the right thing and get help with their debt, all got screwed. Laura Hess, her mates, Lewis B. Freeman, all of them. They are all greedy and taking money that should rightfully go back to all the people that paid in.
There is no justice, none at all.
150,000,000 in debt was eliminated
$150,000,000 in debt was eliminated by Lewis B. Freeman and another $400,000,000 was eliminated by Hess Kennedy before the Attorney General directed by Chase Bank took over the firm.
Your kidding right?
Quote:Originally Posted by Anonymous$150,000,000 in debt was eli
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anonymous $150,000,000 in debt was eliminated by Lewis B. Freeman and another $400,000,000 was eliminated by Hess Kennedy before the Attorney General directed by Chase Bank took over the firm. Your kidding right? |
of course they are.this is the definition of a shill.
I am sick to death of all of it. My family lost thousands of do
I am sick to death of all of it. My family lost thousands of dollars trying to correct our situation. We like every other american had debt. We wanted to pay, but fell behind. We reached out for help and instead of help, we got robbed.